When coach Kyra Elzy was fired, Tyler contemplated transferring but stayed at UK to play for new coach Kenny Brooks. However, it has not been an easy transition as she is averaging only about seven minutes per game and did not even play in five of UK’s first 12 games. However, she got 11 points in a recent game against Western Kentucky when she hit three 3-pointers. In the SEC opener against Mississippi State, she played 16 ½ minutes and hit a 3-pointer in the win.
Brooks appreciates the sacrifices Tyler, a four-star high school recruit, has made and effort she’s put into adapting to what he wants.
“You go into your third year and you feel like you know a lot of what’s going on. Then all of a sudden, here comes a new coach who has a totally different system, totally different style, totally different everything,” Brooks said. “It’s taken her a little while to understand what it is that I wanted, and we had a heart-to-heart.
“And I told her, I said, ‘You need to do all the little things. You need to play good defense. You need to come out there and give us things we don’t have. You just have to play hard, and you have to make me play you.’”
She did that against Western Kentucky and Brooks is hoping she will do it more in SEC play because UK could use more bench scoring.
“She’s been nothing but receptive to what we’re doing. Even though her minutes have plummeted from last year, she has not been a distraction,” Brooks said. “I would like for her to be a little bit more assertive, but this is a spark that we need.”
